What Can We Learn from Aquinas About AI? | Prof. Gyula Klima

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May 21, 2025

In this discussion, Gyula Klima, a distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, sheds light on the philosophical insights of Aquinas regarding artificial intelligence. He articulates how human intelligence, rooted in immaterial concept formation, is fundamentally distinct from artificial general intelligence (AGI). Klima emphasizes that while AGI can enhance human understanding, it lacks genuine creativity and the social interaction essential for true conceptual growth. The conversation also delves into the metaphysical implications of intellect and cognition, revealing the limitations of AI in replicating human thought.

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INSIGHT

Immaterial Nature of Human Intellect

Aquinas argues human intellect operates immaterially, allowing universal concept formation unlike brute animals.
This immateriality distinguishes human rationality fundamentally from animal cognition, foundational to human intelligence.

INSIGHT

Universality Requires Immaterial Representations

Material representations naturally convey singular information tied to their causal histories.
Universal intellectual representations must be immaterial as they transcend singular material constraints.

INSIGHT

AI Can't Create Universal Concepts

AI systems, being material, cannot produce the true universal concepts human minds create.
AI can only manipulate human concepts encoded in artificial languages, lacking original concept formation.

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Prof. Gyula Klima uses Aquinas’ philosophy of mind to argue that human intelligence, rooted in immaterial universal concept formation, is metaphysically distinct from artificial general intelligence (AGI), though AGI can still serve as a powerful tool for enhancing human understanding and life.

This lecture was given on February 19th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Gyula Klima is Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the Founding Director of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics and of the Society for the European History of Ideas and Editor of their Proceedings. He is also an editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Editor-in-Chief of a book series at Springer, Historical-Analytical Studies in Mind, Nature, and Action, and at Fordham, Medieval Philosophy, Texts and Studies. Before taking up his position at Fordham, he had taught philosophy in the US at Yale and Notre Dame, prior to which he had done research in Europe at the universities of Budapest, Helsinki, St. Andrews, and Copenhagen. His publications, besides more than a hundred scholarly papers, include The Metaphysics and Theology of the Eucharist (Springer, 2024), Questions on the Soul by John Buridan and Others: A Companion to John Buridan’s Philosophy of Mind (Springer, 2017), Intentionality, Cognition and Mental Representation in Medieval Philosophy (Fordham University Press, 2015), John Buridan (Oxford University Press, 2008), John Buridan: Summulae de Dialectica, an annotated translation with a philosophical introduction; (Yale University Press, 2001); ARS ARTIUM: Essays in Philosophical Semantics, Medieval and Modern (Institute of Philosophy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1988).

Keywords: Artificial General Intelligence, Human Intelligence, Immaterial Intellect, Metaphysical Limits, Philosophy of Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Sensory vs. Intellectual Representation, Thomistic Anthropology, Universal Concept Formation